Share this article

Letter: Do not underestimate the danger Trump poses

As if we needed more evidence than what is in the public record, President Trump has often been described as an “idiot” and a “moron” by his most trusted advisers and those best situated to know. Many have observed that he is profoundly ignorant and lacks intellectual curiosity; that he’s malignantly narcissistic; a shameless braggart and a fraud who tells lies as easily as he breathes. Safe to say, all true.

But even as he pathetically flails against the Robert Mueller investigation in a desperate attempt at self-preservation, leaving no doubt as to his guilt – only as to the exact details – it’s a critical mistake to dismiss Trump simply as a temporary national embarrassment, inevitably on his way to taking his “rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history,” as former CIA Director John Brennan put it.

The problem is that he is as powerful as he is desperate and unstable, and because he lacks any moral compass, the gravest danger we face as a nation quite possibly sits in our own Oval Office. However pathetic,Trump is tenacious.

As the greatest con man of all time, it’s critical not to underestimate him now – as has been done so often – especially as he contemplates the possible consequences and penalties for the crimes he knows he and his associates have committed. Getting himself elected, Trump has proven he’s nobody’s fool. What’s worse, if we let our guard down now, we will all be his.